#christopher awdry

[visionarylocomotiveworks]

“Versatile, but that’s not what he called Old Stuck Up. I didn’t quite hear what he said, but I didn’t think it sounded very polite…”

Based off the first story - Old Stuck Up - in RWS book no. 28 - James and the Diesel Engines.

#thomas the tank engine #ttte #ttte fanart #ttte thomas #thomas #thomas and friends #the railway series #Christopher Awdry #old stuck up #ttte douglas

[sparkarrestor]

BARRY’S BASIS IS CONFIRMED, I REPEAT, BARRY’S BASIS IS CONFIRMED!

HE IS INDEED AN IVATT 2MT

TANK

#ttte #Ttte lore #RWS #ttte barry #RWS lore #Christopher Awdry

[damnea]

Henry goes to the hospital by Christopher Awdry

What is it with this engine and cats, they're like magnetised to him.

Bless him.

He's in his old shape as well which is weird.

Link to drive with scans here.

#more thomas books #ttte henry #christopher awdry #man I love his books #finding them is fun

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

Hi! What’s your favorite Railway Series book? I have another question too, what do you think of the engines faces being the smokebox doors?

I'm not sure what I think about the smokebox faces? It's peculiar when you try to think through it and make it "realistic" but the notion is so natural that there's not much to think about.

People really get on Awdry's case for not having thought through the implications of his sapient engines but I feel like we gotta cut the man a break. He clearly never had any interest in worldbuilding. It's not like he had some wild oddball idea that he just then neglected to nurture to maturity. Almost everybody has imagined smokeboxes to be the face of a steam engine (and the grill and headlights to be the face of a car, etc.)

No idea if that answered anything. Anyway!

What isn't my favorite RWS book?

Honestly it changes every week or two. At one point or another it’s been: 

Thomas the Tank Engine - the structure is so simple yet so sound. this is some Joseph Campbell bullshit right here (positive)

Tank Engine Thomas Again - simply a classic from the moment it was penned. not my personal favorite (i think the ffarquhar line is just a bit too twee as a setting for my tastes?), but you can't beat these stories or this character. objectively, the best stand-alone book in the series. you don't have to know anything about anything to read this and to fall in love and to sense at once that it's an indispensable part of classic childhood literature.

Toby the Tram Engine - this kicked off the era of somewhat darker themes of obsolesce as well as new characters having really great introductory arcs/backstories❤️ points off for the last story tbh—but points on for seeing the Fat Controller and his fam on holiday as well as the parts dunking on busybody cops

Gordon the Big Engine - another one that just has really good structure—plus some underrated character moments in this—plus stories 1 and 3 are hilarious

Edward the Blue Engine - the vibes are impeccable

Eight Famous Engines - altogether, just a really good ensemble romp

Duck and the Diesel Engine - I N T R I G U E

The Little Old Engine - another just-really-good ensemble romp

The Twin Engines - I N T R I G U E, also irony; it's just very ambitious, grow-the-beard stuff

Very Old Engines - the sheer layers going on. also i'm a sucker for prequels.

Main Line Engines - just very classic Golden Age rws stuff, witty and warm, nothing to criticize, all clover. it feels like home.

Enterprising Engines - hooooooooooly crap, it's so good. some bits are shaky or pudgy, i kinda wish i had been the editor for this one, but you have to forgive the nitpicky stuff in the face of all the wealth. a triumph.

Oliver the Western Engine - the books just kept getting better in this era? wtf????? 

Duke the Lost Engine and Tramway Engines - i could write ESSAYS on both these books. i SHOULD. like at this point you can start doing high-grade LITERARY ANALYSIS (enthusiastic)

Christopher Awdry's stuff is alllll on a lower tier than the above but while i'm on a roll i gotta give some props here too:

Jock the New Engine - i don't know how to defend it, it just makes the mini railway feel very real to me in a way that their first book (funny though it was) didn't

Gordon the High Speed Engine - it's overrated by certain Thomas bros, who to my eye seem to be deliberately obtuse when they insist that it's every bit as good as any Wilbert book (WHAT??), but it is enjoyable, thoughtful, and certainly the most consistently high-quality Christopher book

Henry and the Express - i'm here purely for the arc and the book's ending. as a final word on Henry's character development, the last couple of pages are unmatched and give him a new and hard-won layer that even Enterprising Engines didn't quite get him to

Thomas and the Twins - the interactions between Thomas, Edward, Bill and Ben are delicious. even if the Trevor story is pretty lame, i'm still soooo glad this book exists, i can't believe it, it feels like someone wrote a self-indulgent fanfic... and i am Here For It

#chatter #the railway series #what even are engine faces #thomas the tank engine (rws) #tank engine thomas again (rws) #toby the tram engine (rws) #gordon the big engine (rws) #edward the blue engine (rws) #the little old engine (rws) #the twin engines (rws) #very old engines (rws) #main line engines (rws) #enterprising engines (rws) #oliver the western engine (rws) #duke the lost engine (rws) #tramway engines (rws) #christopher awdry #the fact that thomas and toby originally bonded over heckling a policeman is amazing 🙏 we stan

[www-islandofsodor]

#planetsodor #thomas and friends #gordon the express engine #christopher awdry #high speed engine #Youtube

[elijones94]

🚂 I had moments of childhood nostalgia while working on these new drawings. I based these versions of Thomas, Edward, and James on CGI test renders for the cancelled movie “The Adventures of Thomas”. “The Adventures of Thomas” was in the works in the early 2010s, but the movie’s intended release date was pushed back multiple times after Mattel acquired the rights to HIT Entertainment. The story was to have taken place in London during World War II revolving around a preteen boy at odds with his father. Eventually, the father and son bond upon arrival on the Island of Sodor. Much like the 2005 “Thomas & Friends” special “Calling All Engines!”, there would have been a conflict between the steam engines and the diesels. As of 2020, a Thomas movie is in the works and is to be directed by the same director as Disney’s “Christopher Robin”. Anyway, I wanted to challenge myself with my take on three popular “Thomas & Friends” characters. #ThomasandFriends #latenightdrawing

#thomas the tank engine #edward the blue engine #james the red engine #thomas and friends #the railway series #Rev W Awdry #Christopher Awdry #Britt Allcroft #David Mitton #Day Out with Thomas #childhood nostalgia #childhood memories #thomas #James #Edward #really useful engines #mattel #hit entertainment #the adventures of Thomas #world war ii #british literature #red and blue #sir topham hatt #mr conductor #shining time station #thomas and the magic railroad #calling all engines

[whistlingstarlight]

Treated myself to an early Christmas present of a Railway Series boxset, psychic damage received from some of the poor quality pictures in Gallant Old Engine but it's v nice to finally have physical copies of a series that's v important to me :]

#it is. nearly impossible to find physical copies of Christopher Awdry's RS books? #and if they're out there they're ludicrously expensive #still! the OG 26 are v nice to have #the railway series

[transsexualunderground]

places to read the railway series (and some other ttte related works)... FOR FREE!

so, I'm not sure if everyone on TTTE tumblr has gotten a chance to read the RWS, so I thought I'd post some links! Note that for some of these you'll need an Internet Archive account to check out the books as it's a virtual library. It's worth it, though! They have a LOT of books!

Internet archive 60th anniversary story collection - Only goes up to "The Twin Engines" but I do like that it contains the forewords. However, I believe those can be found on the TTTE wiki, so you may not find them necessary.

Internet archive Thomas the Tank Engine - the complete collection - All W. Awdry books in one!

All Christopher Awdry railway series books (except Thomas and his Friends)- This one's a pdf.

Internet archive The Island of Sodor, Its People, History and Railways - A non-picture book lore source that's rare to find physically. Also a pdf!

And, as a bonus...

Ongoing archive of Marvel Thomas magazines - This one's being run by @/KingoftheTWR on Twitter. I like reading these, they have quite a few original stories and I am especially fond of the "Write to: The Fat Controller" section! I suggest sorting them by name that way you can start at issue one and not have to run around the archive whenever some of them were uploaded out of order.

#ttte #thomas the tank engine #thomas and friends #secondman says #the railway series #railway series #rws

[rygoespop]

List of Characters in my Thomas and Friends AU (Finalized)

Main:

Thomas

Edward

Henry

Gordon

James

Percy

Toby

Emily

Molly

Rosie

Stanley

And Rebecca

Secondary/Supporting:

Duck

Donald and Douglas

Oliver

Diesel

Bill and Ben

BoCo

Philip

Derek

Timothy

Marion

Mavis

Sidney

Daisy

Ryan

Brent the Ballast Spreader

Paxton

Bear

Norman

Dennis

Den

Dart

Arry and Bert

Diesel 10

Murdoch

Arthur

Salty

Porter

Harvey

Fergus

Whiff

Scruff

Belle

Flynn

Stafford

Charlie

Billy

Neville

Hank

Neil

Sonny

Wilbert

Flora

Bash and Dash

Ferdinand

Winston

Stephen

Glynn

Dustin

Skarloey

Rheneas

Sir Handel

Peter Sam

Rusty

Duncan

Duke

Bertram

Freddie

Mighty Mac

Luke

Millie

Smudger

Victor

Culdee

Wilfred

Alaric

Harry (Formerly known as Lord Harry/Patrick)

Godred

Mike

Rex

Bert

Flying Scotsman

Spencer

Stepney

Connor

Caitlin

Samson

Merlin

Lexi

Theo

Hurricane

Frankie

D261

Splodge (Splatter and Dodge)

Jinty and Pug

Patriot the Big City Engine

Mallard

Hiro

Gator

Ashima

Rajiv

Yong Bao

Shane

Raul

Gina

Etienne

Vinnie

Sam

Frieda

Hugo

Axel

Ivan

Carlos

Lady

Proteus

Annie and Clarabel

Henrietta

Toad

Old Slow Coach

The Slip Coaches

SCruffey

Fred Pelham

Hector

Rocky

Judy and Jerome

Catherine

Bradford

Bertie

Bulgy

Terence

Trevor

Elizabeth

George

Kevin

Butch

The Horrid Lorries

Madge

Thumper

Jack

Alfie

Max and Monty

Oliver

Ned

Byron

Kelly

Isobella

Buster

Bulstrode

Captain

Skiff

Harold

Jeremy

Cranky

Carly

Big Mickey

Owen

Merrick

And Beresford

So that’s all for this finalized list, as for the ones planned such as Logan, Duchess of Hamilton, Ulli, Frank, Hannah, and The Spiteful Brakevan, they are unfortunately dropped due to the recent news regarding to Christopher Awdry

So that’s all

#thomas and friends

[visionarylocomotiveworks]

"No one was hurt, but a strong smell of fish hung in the air." ~ Fish; S4: Ep 24.

Forgot I had this in my archives, too. Still one of my all time favorite Thomas episodes, and has one of my favorite crash scenes, too. Hard to believe it was based off a Christopher Awdry story, huh?

#thomas the tank engine #ttte #ttte thomas #thomas #thomas and friends #ttte fanart #the railway series #rws #duck the great western engine #thomas the train

[greatwesternway]

Duck v. James

On this most glorious Duck Day, I would like to talk about perhaps my favorite Duck related topic: his supposed rivalry with James.

Now I thought this was the brain child of some enterprising individual on the writing staff of the CGI iteration of the show. The finer nuances of this dynamic certainly are, but the very beginnings of this concept are actually in one of Christopher Awdry's entries to The Railway Series, James and the Diesel Engines' "Crossed Lines":

"Toby has two cabs," remarked Duck, "and he gets on all right."

"Toby's just a little engine," scoffed James. "If an important engine like me didn't know which way to turn, what would The Railway come to?"

---

"I suppose it must be difficult to know which way to go when you've got two cabs," whispered a voice, "but to go two ways at once with only one cab - that really is something!"

I don't think C. Awdry quite had the shape of it; Duck is just the convenient implied speaker here because if there is one thing Duck enjoys, it is watching Vicious Sodor Karma come to pass. Man loves to see some justice served (see also "Domeless Engines", "Pop Goes the Diesel", "Bulgy", "Scaredy Engines").

But there is one fine point here that is pretty clear right from this very early start: if there is indeed a rivalry, it is one-sided. Duck is either unaware of it or, more likely, does not care to participate in it. Look at that first illustration: James is fully engaged with this debate whereas Duck gives nary a fuck. Does getting into a pissing match with James help get his work done? No? Then he's not interested.

And why should he be? Duck is secure in and content with his standing in the world. He knows exactly who and what he is. He's proud of his past and happy with his present. He aspires to nothing.

That last part would be a little sad for a person, but for an engine that's practically a state of nirvana. To be able to get out and work every day without wanting for more? I would actually go so far as to say that Duck already has more than he ever anticipated having and he has earned this by recognizing himself as only a part of a larger whole, like a bee in a beehive ironically enough in respect to James.

Compare to James who always wants more. James is constantly trying to differentiate himself from the rest of the fleet. His being painted red was a rejection of the railway's livery at the time. In a way, it's a symbolic rejection of the railway itself. James does not want to be a team player or a part of the group. He wants his successes to be his alone (and, possibly, his failures as well).

In The Adventure Begins, James speaks of wanting to have a branch line, expecting to be given one any day now. He thinks, ideally, he should only be pulling coaches and complains when asked to pull anything else. He feels entitled to the best jobs, but only because he is splendid and red, the only thing James has ever done that he considers an accomplishment. What James aspires to be is Gordon, who gets to pull the Express because he's big and grand.

The thing about being a train though, is that you are what you are and aside from minor mechanical improvement, you are only ever going to be what you are. And James is not, nor will he ever be, a Gordon.

What James actually is... is Duck. (Or Edward, which if Duck does aspire to anything, it's to be like Edward). James is faster, but otherwise he and Duck occupy roughly equal places on the roster for what work they can do and what they're built for. And knowing that he is more or less the same as a boxy tank engine with a dull green paint job who's happy to shunt in the yard and yet has been given everything James feels entitled to as a splendid red tender engine... well, it hits a nerve right in the delicate train feefees, don't it? It's hard to watch this guy happily going about his business unbothered by the obvious and grave injustice occurring between them.

That's why James is tryin' to start shit in "Duck in the Water".

All trying to reverse engineer Duck into feeling slighted to have to a goods train. "It's a shame you've been stuck with a goods train, Duck, but I suppose somebody has to pull cars." If Duck is unhappy with his lot in life, then maybe James can feel a little less insecure in his. It's an inverse proportion! Clearly!

But his name's Duck and he don't give a fuck, so he just returns that shit right to sender. "Oh? I thought you sometimes pull cars too."

What can James say to that apart from, "yeah, but shut up"?

This is actually a great moment too because it calls back to one of Duck's earliest character traits, that he does not respond to teasing or attempts to demean him. He simply does not give it the time of day. He is immune, barring certain specific circumstances (he did get upset in "Donald's Duck" when Donald said he was quacking on about his branch line, but that was Donald whose opinion he cares more about.)

Anyway, imagine you're a delicate little train like James who tried to drag this sandwich of a tank engine down to your level and he just ignored your shit. Maybe in a way you are unpleasantly used to being ignored, by much bigger and grander engines who in your estimation at least might be entitled to ignore you like that. And now - now! - Sir Topham Hatt is coming and he says you gotta leave your coaches to go pull this guy who refused to acquiesce to your train bullshit out of a puddle. Shitsux, but surely this is an opportunity to pay Duck out a little? Now he's relying on James to come rescue him.

But nope. Even in vulnerability, Duck does not let James get to him. James tells his little "I thought ducks liked water" joke (again) and Duck just rolls his eyes. Even gave him a little smile 'cause there's a joke he's never heard before! The bit about his real name might have been meant to ruin it a little, but Duck's still not invested in whatever James is trying to make happen here. All he cares about is expediting his return to work.

Then of course the knocked-over signal causes a massive clusterfuck, a four engine pile up because James couldn't wait for Rocky to secure his crane arm. And James has to own up to all of this happening because he was so desperate to get back to his blessed coaches that he tried to make Duck jealous of that morning.

If ever there was a time to bust out the ol' "There's only two ways of doing this, the Great Western Way or the wrong way", that time is now, right?

But Duck doesn't do that. Duck loves seeing Vicious Sodor Karma enact justice, but justice is also measured and fair. It is Enough that James is gettin' a dressing down from Hatt and that he had to admit that he caused all this confusion and delay and that he has to pull Duck's cars until Duck can pull them himself again. To kick James while he's down, to tell him the precise Way in which all of this should have been done, it'd be too much. It would risk invoking Duck's own helping of Sodor Karma, in fact.

This is distinct from a situation where the offending party talked some shit before they went out, got hoist on their own petard, and now they need to be informed that the irony of the situation is being observed, like as in "Domeless Engines" and "Crossed Lines". In actually admitting that all of this was his fault rather than trying to slink away unnoticed, James acknowledged he was actin' a fool. Duck therefore does not feel the need to rub it in.

Even though this really would be the PERFECT time to hear about the Great Western Way.

Wild that in the very next episode, James is even more egregious in his instigatin' train bullshit.

In "Duck and the Slip Coaches", James is dismissive of Duck's stories about his past on the Great Western Railway, then steals a bit of that past to try and earn himself recognition.

And this actually hurts! It's not a dumb little jibe that Duck can brush off. James literally stole his work history, the thing that Duck is most proud of. The very work history that James called "silly" the night before (silly being about the worst insult in the world as a train). And James had the absolute gall to look right at him while taking credit for his idea.

(And as an aside, what the fuck was up with everyone else cheering James on for his brilliant idea? They all called his ass out when he lied about Henry dreaming that he promised to take the Flying Kipper that one time but they just let him take credit for some shit none of them had ever heard of until last night? Fuckin' rood. I see how it is.)

But like I said, Duck earned everything he's got by being a team player. He's got beehive brain, and it means that even when logically he should want to sabotage James or even just let him wreck himself through his own hubris, Duck's motivation is always the overall success of the railway, not personal gain.

Had Duck never come to Sodor, where there are far fewer engines and its much easier to distinguish oneself, he probably never would have received the recognition that he does currently. As such, Duck never really had any expectations that he should be acknowledged personally. So even though he knows this was his idea, that James does not deserve to benefit or succeed in using it, Duck nonetheless gives James advice rather than just letting him fail. After all, slip coaches are also dangerous if not used correctly and passengers are more important than what idea was whose.

But James is as James does. He rolls his eyes and blows Duck off and immediately gets his face shoved in a heaping helping of Sodor Karma. He slows down out of vanity, the last slip coach bumps into the back of his train, and all his passengers are jostled. And of course, Sir Topham Hatt is there to see it and hear everyone's complaints about what a Bad Railway it was. James gets yelled at, the slip coaches refuse to work with him, and Duck is able to swoop in and save the day. It all comes out that Duck knows how to use the slip coaches, has an established rapport with these exact ones and - since James didn't admit what he did himself - Duck even gets to let slip (oi oi oi) that he was the one who told James about them in the first place.

And then everybody cheered and James died mad about it.

The hilarious and tragic thing about all this is, everything Duck has that James is jealous of... nearly all of it is a direct result of James' initial rejection of the NWR livery. Without James' pursuit of individuality and distinction on the railway, Duck probably is not afforded his GWR livery later on. Without his livery, he probably does not take it as an invitation to reassert his old railway's Ways. Without his livery, Oliver is also probably not given his livery either. Duck might have earned a branch line still, but it's almost certainly not called the Little Western without two visibly identifiable Great Westerns on it. None of that happens without James first bucking the standardized livery first.

And that's just Duck.

If you asked Duck what James ought to be proud of, it would probably be that James' choice to be painted red instead of blue resulted in the NWR's greatest feature: that nearly every engine on it is painted in a unique livery. Maddening as the disorganization and lack of cohesive identity would have been to Duck at the time, he's also seen the railway develop around this concept and he can't deny its success. It was such good marketing for passenger services that the Skarloey Railway also adopted this scheme, as did Arlesdale once it was founded. The very economy of Sodor has shifted towards tourism in response to and relies on it's individual and identifiable engine liveries now.

Arguably, James has had the greatest single impact on the railway of any engine on it. In trying to separate himself from the fleet, the fleet ended up being built around him. Everything the NWR is today is derived from that splendid red paint of his.

Duck would be reluctant to tell him though. James is already insufferable enough as it is.

Anyway, here's two subsequent occasions in which James was embarrassing himself and Duck just happened to be nearby.

Here's James sitting in the shed, watching Duck pull coaches, because he was a grump ass about not getting to pull coaches himself.

Why is Duck here? Out of all 80+ engines on Sodor, it just happened to be Duck pulling in Rocky? Yeah, of course, because James just ate shit in a real big way and Vicious Sodor Karma loves her favorite spectator.

#ttte duck #ttte james #tl;drrrrrrrrrr

[damnea]

Can't find this on the wiki but it's probably because it wasn't printed by Sodor Enterprises.

Can I just say their vacant stares are frightening.

Still it's by Christopher so I guess it could count somewhere...

"Give me your skin."

#not ttte #another one of those weird books chris wrote #nearly found them all now I think #thank god #christopher awdry

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

me, spamming @shinygoku with screenshots from "thomas and the fat controller's engines": you know, there are so many good bits here that you might start to get the idea that this is a good book

me: but you'd be wronnng

#sooooooooo. wrong. #but! there are still small veins of gold in them thar hills! #gordon's misfortune in 'fire engine' being forgotten is balanced out by his great luck in 'birdstrike' being forgotten #because of the many good roasts in the series 'poor old gordon — fancy being stopped by a bird — that's nothing to *crow* about is it? 😎' #stands. like. RIGHT UP THERE. #... it would stand more up there if christopher wasn't endlessly addicted to lame dad jokes #and in just doing reprises of old rws hits #(including... his OWN?) #(i mean man rehashing your old man's material is one thing but did you just try to do a remix of 'drip tank' dude??) #/vent #the railway series #christopher awdry stories

[lswro2-222]

Happy Holidays, everyone! Here’s a fic inspired by “Edward and the Bear” by Christopher Awdry. Thanks to @damnea for scanning that sweet little story and making it accessible, because this wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t seen their post about it!

#thomas the tank engine #ttte #ttte fic #ttte edward #writing #my own writing #edward ttte

[brick-boats]

Hello all!! As promised here's some of my favorite photos from my vacation to Tywyn at the Awdry Extravaganza 2! I got to meet a lot of fans and content creators, even made some new friends! The last two pictures are especially important, 2nd to last is me and my dad, who tagged along with me. And the very last pic I got to meet Mrs. Veronica Awdry Chambers, the Reverend's eldest daughter. She absolutely loved meeting all the fans and was delighted by their support for her family's legacy. Maybe one day Christopher Awdry will stop by the Talyllyn... who knows?

#real life railway #ttte #ttte skarloey #talyllyn railway #talyllyn #ttte duncan #ttte peter sam #ttte ivo hugh #ttte rusty #ttte fred

[jobey-wan-kenobi]

another canon thing that i regard as 'euphemism' is in Christopher Awdry's book where he recaps BoCo coming to Sodor as the Fat Controller just happened to take an interest and decided to refurbish him (again) and BoCo "fully justified his confidence in him"

hmm yeah

Edward pushed for BoCo's trial and rebuild with deputation after deputation

Edward: I know he doesn't seem on the face of it like a great bargain, sir. But the history of our railway has always been betting on the mechanical underdogs.

FC2: I know.

Edward: There was me, Henry, Thomas, James—

FC2: I know.

Edward: Sorry, sir. But I must also add—Henry.

FC2: You already said Henry.

Edward: Henry really needed a lot of help. He made no financial sense at the time. But where would we be these days without him?

FC2: Yes, Edward. This is my family history too!

Edward: So you'll replace BoCo's engine, then? 😇😇😇 Those Crossleys are no good, I've been reading up and they're the Achilles heel of every locomotive they've ever been saddled with, it's amazing what BoCo's managed to do with one but what he really needs is an HST four-stroke English Electric—

FC2: *normally would shut down the deputation around this point but he is as flabbergasted as I am that Edward has suddenly become a gearhead*

#edward/boco #ttte #ttte boco #ttte edward #the fat controller